Log inSign up

Le retour sera long.

Le retour sera long.
The return will be long.
From Lesson 209:Future sequence of events·French

Breakdown of Le retour sera long.

être
to be
long
long
le retour
the return

Questions & Answers about Le retour sera long.

Why use retour here instead of another word for "return"?
In French, le retour specifically refers to a return journey or the act of coming back to a place. If you were talking about returning an item to a store, you would use a verb like rendre. If you meant returning to school or work after a break, you would use la rentrée.
The current lesson is about the futur antérieur, but this sentence uses sera. Why isn't it in the futur antérieur?
Sera is the futur simple (simple future) of être (to be). The futur antérieur (future perfect) is used for an action that will be fully completed before another future action happens. Because this sentence just describes a single, ongoing future state (the journey "will be long"), the simple future is the correct tense to use. It could act as the main clause to a futur antérieur phrase, like "Quand nous aurons fini, le retour sera long" (When we have finished, the return will be long).
Is the final "g" in long pronounced?
No, the final "g" in the masculine adjective long is silent. However, if it were describing a feminine noun like la route (the road), the adjective would change to longue, and the hard "g" sound would be pronounced.

Learn Le retour sera long and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →